Tomb of Horrors: What's needed?

[Callos_DeTerran]

I'm running a 'for fun' version of the Tomb in my IRL game. Yeah it's a tribute to Gygax. I probably won't be running it for very long (Theres a set rotation to the DMs in my IRL group and this would be out of rotation) but that only bothers me because I wanted to use EttRoCG instead.

So! Considering pre-gen characters ((And a couple, with a rolling system to determine what the character should be when one dies)) what are 'essentials' for the Tomb? Equipment and class-wise I mean. I'm pretty sure they'd love a wand of resurreaction but thats not something I'm passing out. What I mean is...do you NEED a rogue to advance (Or at least somebody with trap finding)? What about a wizard with the proper utility spells? A cleric? A heal-bot (I distinguish between the two).

Answerers to these questions, plus a fun way to introduce a town around the tomb, would help me out a lot in building characters for this foray into the Tombs.

[Adumbration]

[A specific spoilerish suggestion]

I suggest you at least give them a will-save to avoid being separated from their equipment (and clothes) at the misty archways. That trap sucks, especially if you've invested all your money into things that improve your saves. And you're a halfling palading.

*ahem*

I think you really need a good trap-finder, who likes to take 10 on every single square and has a modifier of over +20. Otherwise it's just save or... well, and suck.

I really hate when three characters fail their fortitude saves against sleeping gas and get mowed down by a juggernaut stone golem.

[/A specific spoilerish suggestion]

[Chronos]

The first and foremost thing you need, regardless of your actual class, is an extreme dose of paranoia. There are a bunch of different ways you can check for a trap, but whatever way you use, you have to use it at each and every step.

This then implies that you need something you have enough uses of that you can use it at each and every step. Skills can work, invocations can work, reserve feats can work. But if you cast a spell at every step, there's no way you're going to make any progress.

And don't bother with a healbot. The Tomb doesn't do much injuring of characters... If you do everything perfectly, you escape unscathed, and if you don't do everything perfectly, you die, with very little middle ground.